11.22.2010

Origami Pine Tree Tutorial

Let me show you how you can take a few square pieces of paper and turn them into your very own forest like this!

You can also make cute little trees for small figures like this iguana! He looks right at home, doesn't he?

Here's how you do it...

Step one. Start with a square piece of paper (I used pre-cut origami paper). Printer paper has about the right thickness, but you could also use wrapping, news, or magazine paper (left).

Step two. With the pretty side of the paper up (the part that you want your tree to look like) fold the paper diagonally pulling one corner up to the opposite corner (right).

Step three. Open the previous fold you just did. See, you can do this!! Origami totally rocks!

Step four. Yup, you guessed it... now turn the paper 90 degrees and fold the other corner to the opposite corner (left).

Step five. And yes, open it back up. You should now see an X made from the two folds you just did (right).

Step six. Flip the paper over, so that the pretty side is now facing down (left).

Step seven. Take the bottom flat edge and fold it up to the opposite top flat edge. This will give you a horizontal fold in the square (right).

Step eight. Open up the fold you just did and you should see a line running across the paper from left to right (left).

Step nine. Fold the other flat edge to the opposite flat edge and then open up your fold again (right). Your paper will now have lines horizontally, vertically, and on both diagonals (not pictured)!

Step ten. Flip your piece of paper back over so that the pretty side faces up. In this step, you are looking for the square that was made from the folding outlines. See how the folds sectioned the paper into fourths below?

Step eleven. Here you want to pull the paper in behind that square we found in the last step. See how part of the paper gets tucked in behind the square.

You'll know you have it right when you now are holding a square 1/4 the size of the original piece of paper with the pretty side facing the outside all around. Phew! If you are still with me, then you are half way to you tree!

Step twelve. Put the 1/4 size square flat on your working surface and pull up one of the arms (origami tree's have arms!). Then open the pocket and it will look like the picture below on the left. Arm up... pocket open. Good so far?

Step thirteen. Ok, we are in the arm up... pocket open position... next step is to push down on the top of the pocket until the pocket is laying flat and press the new folds really well (right).

REPEAT Step thirteen on the remaining three arms. No arm left behind!

Step fourteen. With all the arms pressed down your square will now look like the picture below on the left. In this step, we take one of the folds and flip it over to the right or left like a book page. This step aims to make sure only the pretty sides are showing all the way around.

REPEAT Step fourteen on the reverse side. You should only see the pretty side now all the way around (right).

Step fifteen. Now we work with the feet (yes, origami trees have feet!). Take the bottom flap or foot and fold it up so that the point lines up with the center fold. It should be folded up far enough so that the fold lines up to make the top section look like a nice tree shaped triangle (left and right).

REPEAT Step fifteen on the other three sides. In order to do this, you have to turn the book pages (pictured on the left below). When you are done your paper will look like the picture on the right below (left and right).

Step sixteen. Make sure you crease the bottom of the triangle really well again by pressing on the folds with your finger (left). Then lift up the part that you just folded up (right).

Step seventeen. The lifted part now gets tucked all the way down and under (left).

REPEAT Step seventeen on the other three flaps.

When you are done your paper will look like a flattened tree (right).

Step eighteen. Plant your tree!! (a.k.a. stand it up) You may need to separate and re-crease those arms so that they have even spacing. So, that wasn't so bad, right?

Ta da!! Origami makes a great project for kids too as it teaches them patience, hand eye coordination, how to follow instructions and leaves them with a quick sense of accomplishment!!

Now, how cute would these be with a little pom-pom glued on top or sequins and buttons attached as ornaments.. or a whole forest made up of different sizes for a table scape with a few pine cones? I even think you could use a razor or scissors to slit the top and stick a name card in them for a place setting!!

Hope you have fun with this!! Remember, if you didn't like a fold or made a wrong move, you can always unfold and fold again. After all .... it's only paper!!

Let me know if you would like to see more tutorials like this and what things you'd like to make! I think it would be fun to do a few more of these, don't you?

I'm so glad you are enjoying this!! @Augie and Ti's Mom, I'd be happy to do a bird one next!@Seaweed, I'd say sure why not and try it. I wonder if you could use spray starch to stiffen the napkins? Let us know if it works!!